Fort Myers Beach Town Councilmember Bill Veach resigned Tuesday, citing the state’s new financial disclosure requirements as the reason.

“It’s very invasive,” Veach said. “I don’t think it’s necessary, and I don’t think it’s effective in combatting corruption.”

He had served on the council since 2020 and was up for reelection in 2024, though he did not plan to run.

His resignation is the latest in a recent series of abrupt local official resignations as they cite the newly required form 6. Earlier this month, Naples Vice Mayor Mike McCabe announced he will resign from his position on Dec. 31 because of Form 6.

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What is Form 6?

Senate Bill 774, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law on May 11, enacted a change to the Ethics Commission laws that now require local officials to fill out Form 6 and disclose their finances in detail.

Form 6, “Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interests,” is one of the forms elected officials in Florida must fill out and occasionally renew and includes an official’s entire net worth, including the dollar amounts of bank accounts, 401(k) plans, and other assets and financial information over $1,000.

Local government officials previously had to disclose their sources of income and business interests, but not specific amounts or percentages.

The new law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, and failure to properly file form 6 can result in removal or suspension from public office or employment and an automatic fine of $25 per day late to a maximum penalty of $1,500.

Veach speaks against ‘big government’

Veach had contemplated resigning earlier this month and decided that the timing is right now because there are no council meetings and the state is unlikely to reverse course on the new requirements.

“I was kind of waiting to see if there be any movement from the state that put this change in, but they seem to be digging their heels in, so I don’t see that happening in the future,” Veach said.

On the issue of making things more transparent, Veach said that the law is a “shotgun approach” that will not deter corruption.

“If someone was truly corrupt, let’s say someone taking a bribe, they’re not gonna report that in a public financial disclosure,” Veach said.

He said he had no issues providing personal or sensitive information to the government but preferred it be held in confidence and not made publicly available to those with bad intentions.

“It seems like the intent of making it available to the public is the assumption that the public will then become sleuths and look through everyone’s financial disclosure and try to find some problems, but that assumes that everyone who is looking at is a good actor with good intent, which I don’t think is the case,” Veach said.

He describes these changes as “big government Republicans” violating home rule by preempting the authority of local municipalities.

“We seem to have this breed of what I would call big government republicans who think that all power ought to emanate from Tallahassee,” Veach said. “This bill is neither unobtrusive nor effective.”

Though he plans to step away from his official role, Veach said he still plans to be involved in local matters.

“I think there’s still a lot of things that I can do for people,” Veach said. “So I’m going to continue to advocate for the residents and the small businesses of Fort Myers Beach.”

Luis Zambrano is a Watchdog/Cape Coral reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. You can reach Luis at Lzambrano@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Lz2official.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: A Fort Myers Beach official resigns due to new state ethics form